Valley Tech 34, Assabet 12: Beaver fever

Riding a virtuoso performance by quarterback Dan Avery, who threw for 270 yards and four touchdowns to go along with 65 yards rushing, the Beavers picked up their most impressive win of the season as they turned back Assabet on Senior Day, 34-12, to move to 8-0.

Under head coach Rob McCann’s guidance, the Assabet football team has established itself as the cream of the crop (along with Bay Path) in the Colonial Athletic League.

But this season the Aztecs will have to make room for Saturday’s opponent — Valley Tech.

Riding a virtuoso performance by quarterback Dan Avery, who threw for 270 yards and four touchdowns to go along with 65 yards rushing, the Beavers picked up their most impressive win of the season as they turned back Assabet on Senior Day, 34-12, to move to 8-0.

Avery, playing in his final home game, went to coach Jim Archibald in a bold move before the game, demanded the ball, and delivered.

"It feels like each year, I’ve gotten a little bit better and more comfortable," said Avery, who has been a four-year starter at quarterback. "This was our last home game and every senior wants the ball. This is definitely one of the best games I’ve had. Coach has a lot of confidence in me and my receivers did a great job of getting open. The O-line gave me plenty of time to throw and this was just a good team win."

"He’s the type of kid, in a big game, he wants the ball," Archibald said. "We’re 8-0 now. This was a big win for us. Our guys were pretty jacked up for this one, maybe a little too much as you saw on the first drive."

Indeed, it was an inauspicious start for the Beavers’ offense, who punted the ball on their first possession then sat on the sideline for the final seven minutes of the first quarter as Assabet used its familiar ground attack to control the clock.

Though Assabet held the ball for over eight minutes on the game clock, its drive stalled at the Valley Tech 23-yard line.

That’s when the Beavers offense revealed their explosive capabilities as Avery connected with senior wideout Shawn Wilkins for a 77-yard touchdown pass and a 7-0 lead.

"That was a backbreaking possession for us," admitted McCann. "We got stopped on fourth down because we didn’t set the edge and they come back and hit us with that bomb. We got the (initial) stop defensively that we talked about and drove the length of the field, but our drive stalled and they hit us with a big one and that was the turning point of the game."

Assabet turned the ball over on the following possession as Bailey Leacy picked off a Kyle Fernandez pass.

Seven plays later, the Beavers were in the end zone as Avery found Wilkins again, this one coming from 10 yards out.

The Aztecs finally got on the board late in the second quarter as reserve tailback Santo Frescola (103 rushing yards) gave the offense a spark.

Page 2 of 2 - Senior Paul Harpin went straight up the middle for a 16-yard touchdown run and cut the deficit to 14-6.

But with 1:45 remaining in the half, the Beavers rode the legs and arm of Avery, who tossed his third TD of the half with a 5-yard scoring strike to Nick Wojnar to give the hosts a 21-6 lead at the break.

That lead was stretched out to 28-6 on the first play from scrimmage in the second half as Patrick Durkin got into the action, taking a screen pass from Avery 55 yards for a touchdown.

"Those two drives kind of took the wind out of their sails," Archibald said. "We used Shawn (Wilkins) as a decoy on the throw to Nick (Wojnar) and to begin the second half we came out and threw a screen pass thinking (Assabet) was going to come after us and that’s the key. You want to throw when they are thinking run and run when they are thinking pass and it worked out for us."

Taylor Hanson closed out the scoring for Valley Tech with a 10-yard scoring run midway through the fourth quarter, while Fernandez punched home Assabet’s second touchdown of the game on an 11-yard touchdown run with 10 seconds left in the game.

Assabet (5-3 overall) will look to rebound next week as it hosts Monty Tech, while Valley Tech will travel to take the other perennial CAL power, Bay Path, next Saturday.

"Bay Path has always been tough. I’ve played some bad games up there and I think in the last two games (against) them I’ve thrown eight picks," Avery said. "We have to prep real hard, try to get a good look from our scout team, and be ready for them."